The history – Centre Pompidou The history Home > The Centre Pompidou > The history Le parc de stationnement dans les années 1960 choisi pour accueillir le futur emplacement du Centre Pompidou. © Centre Pompidou Birth of a revolutionary concept In 1969, President Georges Pompidou decided that the vacant site of the Plateau Beaubourg should be used for the construction of a multidisciplinary cultural centre of an entirely new type. The decision gave new impetus to a number of different projects that would now be united in the new centre, with the establishment of a new public reading library in the centre of Paris, the provision of worthy premises for the musée national d’art moderne (MNAM), inadequately housed in one of the wings of the Palais de Tokyo, and the creation of a centre for new music (the IRCAM) inspired by the ideas of French composer Pierre Boulez. In addition to this, the new centre would take over the activities of the centre d’art contemporain in the rue Berryer while also incorporating François Mathey’s team from the musée des Arts Décoratifs, who had developed a dynamic programme of exhibitions of contemporary art.

An international architectural competition An architectural competition was announced, the first of its kind in France to be open to architects the whole world over: it attracted 681 competitors from 49 different countries. The international jury chaired by the architect and engineer Jean Prouvé chose a design submitted by a team of three, British architect Richard Rogers and the two Italians Renzo Piano and Gianfranco Franchini, all relatively unknown. Piano and Rogers alone oversaw the management of the project; the two then went on to make separate careers, both later winning the Pritzker Prize, the highest award in the architectural world. Today considered an emblematic 20th-century building, taken to the hearts of the people of Paris and a special favourite of tourists from elsewhere, the new arts centre rising from the Plateau Beaubourg was at first compared by its detractors to an oil refinery. Piano and Rogers’ building continued to be a subject of polemic right through the 1970s, before becoming the icon and exemplar that it is today. Maquette du projet définitif, façade ouest. Renzo Piano et Richard Rogers. 1973.

© Centre Pompidou La façade du Centre Pompidou © Philippe Migeat, 2015 A success from the start The Centre Pompidou was inaugurated on 31 January 1977. From the moment it opened to the public on 2 February 1977, it met with immense success, rapidly becoming one of the most popular cultural venues in the world and one of the most visited monuments in France. The late 1970's and the 1980's saw the Centre Pompidou stage highly influential exhibitions that made major contributions to the history of 20th-century art: the series “Paris-New York”, “Paris-Berlin”, “Paris-Moscow” and “Paris-Paris”, “Vienna: Birth of a Century”, “The Immaterials”, “Memories of the Future”, “Maps and Figures of the Earth”, “Magicians of the Earth”. Under the leadership of its directors Pontus Hulten and Dominique Bozo, the collection of the musée national d’art moderne grew considerably and became a world leader in the field of modern and contemporary art.

A reorganisation in 1992 saw the creation of a department of cultural development, responsible for a programme of live performance, film screenings, lectures, symposia and debates. The fusion of the modern art museum and the centre for industrial design laid the foundations for an architecture and design collection that in twenty years has become one of the most impressive in the world. After twenty years of activity and having welcomed over 150 million visitors, under president Jean-Jacques Aillagon the Centre Pompidou underwent renovation work that lasted from October 1997 to December 1999. The government provided funding to expand gallery space for the display of the permanent collection and improve facilities for live performance. The whole project saw the renewal and reorganisation of 100 000 m2 of floor space. The Centre Pompidou reopened on 1 January 2000, again meeting with great success, being visited by 16 000 people a day that year. At present, the Centre Pompidou welcomes some 3.5 to 3.8 million visitors per annum, depending on the year.

Centre Pompidou - Essays - Needpants Centre Pompidou Renzo Piano which was the "Piano & Rogers" agency. Together Rogers and Piano designed a number of buildings in Italy and in England. Their most famous was the... designing some award winning & famous buildings, including the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris, France, the San Nicola Stadium in... Centre Pompidou Centre Pompidou By: Michael Lalauze The centre Pompidou, an art, leisure, and culture center was constructed in Paris, France and finished in 1977. It bared the name of the current president of France at that time who wanted to create an original institution in the heart of this wonderful city. It had a peculiar manner of construction. Its architectural style was considered postmodern and hi-tech. The structural system was a steel configuration with reinforced concrete floors. The architects were Renzo piano and Richard Rogers. The structural engineers and service engineers were Ove Arup & Partners. It was designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, the British architect couple Richard Rogers and Sue Rogers, Gianfranco Franchini, the British structural engineer Edmund Happold and Irish structural engineer Peter Rice.

The project was awarded to this team in an architectural design competition, whose results were announced in 1971. The Pritzker jury said the Pompidou “revolutionized museums, transforming what had once been elite monuments into popular places of social and cultural exchange, woven into the heart of the city”. All of the functional structural elements of the building are color-coded: green pipes are plumbing, blue ducts are for climate control, and electrical wires are encased in yellow, and circulation elements and devices for safety. The pipes and large chimneys on the back of the edifice, and the see-through escalator are the main characteristics of the structure. The structure is constructed out of transparent glass. When the building was erected, the public opinion of the building was divided. Some thought it looked like a chemical plant or oil drill because... Architects - Potsdamer Platz Berlin Architects Architects An International Team of Star Architects Potsdamer Platz is the result of extensive competitions, designs and planning. Nineteen of the buildings in the area were conceived and designed by an international team of architects headed by Renzo Piano. Among Piano’s best-known works are the Centre Pompidou in Paris and The New York Times Building.

At Potsdamer Platz his aim was to create a European-like city quarter. The influence of his style is readily apparent, particularly in the terracotta façades of the buildings. Renzo Piano and Christoph Kohlbecker persuaded other famous architects to join forces with them. The success of the Potsdamer Platz project is, therefore, also thanks to the contributions of: Arata Isozaki Japanese architect Arata Isozaki (born 1931) studied at the University of Tokyo under Kenzō Tange. In 1963, he established his own architectural firm by the name of Arata Isozaki & Associates, which became the basis for his creative work. Designing buildings throughout the world, Isozaki developed a style that unites Japanese tradition with postmodern and mannerist influence from the Western world. In addition to his work as a freelance architect, he lectures at renowned universities and has authored numerous publications. His best-known works include the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the multifunctional arena Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona and the Team Disney Building in Florida. For Potsdamer Platz, Arata Isozaki designed the Berliner Volksbank.

Christoph Kohlbecker Christoph Kohlbecker was born in Gaggenau in 1935 and studied architecture at the University of Karlsruhe under Egon Eiermann. Since 1959, he has worked as a freelance architect and is owner of the architectural firm Kohlbecker | Architekten & Ingenieure. He became known for his work on industrial facilities and public buildings, such as school complexes, administrative buildings, multipurpose halls, housing developments, etc. In 1984, Kohlbecker was appointed lecturer for “Factory Planning” at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and taught there from 1996 to 2005 as an honorary professor. His best-known works include numerous complexes and factories for Daimler AG, the Heidelberger Druckmaschinen works in Amstetten and the logistics centre of Tchibo GmbH in Zarrentin. Together with Renzo Piano, Kohlbecker planned the development of Potsdamer Platz quarter.

Hans Kollhoff Hans Kollhoff was born in Thüringen in 1946 and studied architecture at the University of Karlsruhe under Egon Eiermann as well as at the University of Vienna. After graduating in 1975, he was awarded a fellowship to Cornell University in New York, where he assisted Oswald Mathias Ungers until 1978. He then founded his own architectural firm “Kollhoff Architekten”, which he has been running with Helga Timmermann since 1984. Kollhoff is best known for his office, business and residential buildings. Together with Helga Timmermann, he has contributed to the Berlin skyline with projects such as the urban planning design for Alexanderplatz and the Leibniz Colonnades at Walter Benjamin Platz as well as the Kollhoff Tower and the Delbrück Haus at Potsdamer Platz. The Newton Bar at Gendarmenmarkt and the Europäische Haus at Pariser Platz were also designed by Kollhoff architects. Some of Kollhoff’s most famous buildings outside Berlin, include Main Plaza in Frankfurt am Main and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations in the Netherlands.

Hans Kollhoff is immortalised at Potsdamer Platz with the Kollhoff Tower. Ulrike Lauber & Wolfram Wöhr Ulrike Lauber was born in Beidenkopf in 1955 and studied architecture at the TU Berlin. After graduating, she worked for Richard Meier in New York from 1986 to 1990 and then founded her own architectural firm with Wolfram Wöhr, “lauber + wöhr architekten” in 1990. Since 2007, she has been running the firm “lauber + zottmann architekten” with Peter Zottmann. Wolfram Wöhr was born in Weißenstein in 1956 and studied architecture at the University of Stuttgart. After working in the New York architectural firm “Gwathmey Siegel Kaufman Architects” and for Richard Meier in New York, he opened his own firm with Ulrike Lauber in 1990, which he has continued to run under the name “Wöhr Heugenhauser Architekten” along with Gerold Heugenhauser since 2000.

For Potsdamer Platz, Ulrike Lauber and Wolfram Wöhr designed the residential building B9 (Linkstrass/Eichhornstrasse) as well as the buildings A2/A3 in Potsdamer Strasse, which accommodate a multiplex cinema with boarding house, offices and a residential building, despite the compact space. Renzo Piano Renzo Piano was born in Genoa in 1937 and studied architecture at the University of Florence as well as at the Polytechnic University of Milan, where he also worked as a lecturer. In cooperation with architect Richard Rogers, he designed the famous Centre Pompidou in Paris in 1970. Piano later opened another firm in 1977 with engineer Peter Rice. Since the early 1980s, it has functioned under a workshop concept whereby experts from various fields take a holistic approach towards realising architectural projects. Since the death of Peter Rice, Piano has headed the company, which is now known by the name “Renzo Piano Building Workshop” with offices in Genoa, Paris and New York.

His most famous works include the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern, the Whitney Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland. Renzo Piano planned and directed the Potsdamer Platz project in cooperation with Christoph Kohlbecker. Richard Rogers British architect Richard Rogers was born in Florence in 1931 and studied architecture at the Architectural Association School in London. He then won a scholarship to the Yale School of Art and Architecture. After his studies, he first worked for the firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York, then in 1963, opened his own office in England. In 1970, together with architect Renzo Piano, he designed the famous Centre Pompidou in Paris. Rogers established a planning firm, now known by the name of “Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners” in 1977, which has branches in London, Sydney and Shanghai. Roger’s work includes the Lloyd’s Building in London, the European Court of Human Rights in Strassburg and the multifunctional arena The O2 in London.

He also planned the Three World Trade Center at Ground Zero in New York, which is scheduled to be finished in 2018. For Potsdamer Platz, Richard Rogers designed a three-building complex known as the Roger Twins. Back Richard Rogers + Architects RICHARD ROGERS + ARCHITECTS From November 21th, 2007 to March 3rd, 2008 Galerie sud View of the exhibition © Centre Pompidou - Photo Georges Meguerditchian INTRODUCTION The Centre Pompidou, which is celebrating its thirtieth birthday this year, welcomes its first retrospective exhibition dedicated to Richard Rogers. It was a decisive moment in his career when the British architect and his Italian colleague Renzo Piano won the big international competition for the design of this centre for art and culture. In a career spanning forty years, Rogers has developed a major body of work in which technical mastery, social awareness and urban thinking are combined.

Through fifty or so projects and creations, the aim of the Richard Rogers + architects exhibition is to demonstrate the contribution and inventiveness of this production, using a thematic approach focusing on the key concepts of his practice: “Transparency”, “Legibility”, “Public”, “Systems”, “Urban”, “Environmental” and “Lightness”. Presented in the Galerie sud, free of partitions and glazed on three sides, in conformity with the Centre Pompidou’s basic principles of transparency and interpenetration, the exhibition is designed like a city within a city. Projects and completed works are assembled on tables forming irregular islets corresponding to the themes which become the different sectors of the city. In addition to these themes, supported by “iconic creations”, there is at the entrance an islet devoted to the architect’s beginnings, and on the periphery a sector under construction: projects currently in progress. In each islet, scale models and photographs have been given priority for presenting the practice’s work. Light fittings designed by the architect contribute additional lighting complementing the abundant natural light.

A network of small streets and wider avenues enable the visitor to move from project to project and from theme to theme, while at the centre of the installation a piazza is left free, echoing the piazza outside, in front of the building, that gives breathing space to the neighbourhood. The beginnings The first islet, situated at the entrance to the exhibition, presents the period at the beginning of the architect’s career, during which, nourished by his work in collaboration with others, he established his constructive thinking and affirmed his interest in the notion of flexibility. View of the exhibition © Centre Pompidou - Photo Georges Meguerditchian The prototype of the Zip-Up Houses (“ready-to-assemble”) is emblematic of this time. Devised by Richard and Su Rogers, the concept consisted in the prefabrication of façade panels enabling the interior space to be arranged independently of the structure. Far from creating standardised housing, it enables the inhabitants, at least expense, to design and modulate their interior space at their convenience. It was with this same perspective that the house of Nino and Dada Rogers was constructed.

House of Nino and Dada, London On a long narrow plot, the house that Richard Rogers built for his parents is divided into two sections, the living quarters and the lodge, separated by a garden. The transparent façades play with the limits between the interior and exterior, integrating the garden into the architecture. Using a structure of steel portals (five for the house and three for the lodge), the interior space is completely free. The partitions are modular and portals can be added to extend the constructed space, reclaiming space from the interior garden, for example. Richard Rogers presents this construction as “a flexible and transparent tube”. Public (public spaces) Public spaces, reflections of the societies that enliven them and places for urban self-expression, are at the heart of the architectural problematic. For forty years, the creation of buildings which bring life to the neighbourhoods in which they are situated and which allow the dynamic nature of society, in all its diversity, to be expressed, has been one of the Rogers practice’s highest priorities. Several projects of the Rogers partnership bear witness to this endeavour, allowing open spaces and streets to enter into the constructed area.

View of the exhibition © Centre Pompidou - Photo Georges Meguerditchian That of the Rome Congress Centre (1999, unbuilt project) is a perfect illustration of this attitude of openness towards the city: the half-buried volume of the auditorium and the restaurants is covered by a sloping slab connected to the street, which is itself dominated by the volume of the conference and exhibition rooms. The public space enters into the building, thereby participating in and contributing to the activities taking place there. Ten years earlier, the project for the Tokyo International Forum competition (1990, unbuilt project), with its auditoriums suspended from steel portals, was also designed as an uninterrupted public space. However, the Centre Pompidou, the most emblematic of projects demonstrating the penetration of the city into architectural design, dates from the early years of the architect’s career. The Centre Pompidou, Paris In 1969, the French president Georges Pompidou launched a project for a grand national centre for art and culture in the historical centre of Paris, which would house a national modern art museum, a public reference library, an institute for research and coordination in acoustics and music, and a centre for industrial design.

A project of such ambition demanded the organisation of an important international competition in which 700 teams participated, among them that formed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers. Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, 1971-1977 Sketch © Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners The project submitted by the two architects attracted the attention of the jury for several reasons. Their proposal for this building, designed in a playful spirit, consisted of large unencumbered superimposed floor plates enabling a mixture of different types of activity, encouraging the modularity of spaces and favouring the meeting between the general public and contemporary creation in all its forms. However, the decisive point that justified the jury’s choice was their proposal to leave a vast space freely available to the public in front of the building: the piazza. This piazza, providing breathing space for the densely populated neighbourhood, continues into the building as the forum, a sort of covered public square with neither steps nor thresholds to separate it from the exterior, with a façade entirely of glass that insists on the continuity between inside and outside. The public space continues vertically with the caterpillar, the huge escalator suspended from the façade, conceived as a new thoroughfare offered to the city.

For further information about the building: see the Educational Dossier Découvrir l'architecture du Centre Pompidou (Discover the architecture of the Centre Pompidou, French only) LEGIBILITY The notion of legibility refers to buildings which express, in their very forms, the manner in which they have been constructed, what keeps them standing and how they function. Legibility thus renders visible and identifies the activities taking place inside. Legibility forces the concrete interaction of the building’s functions with its architecture. A “legible” building is finally one which, far from being anonymous and opaque, allows itself to be apprehended and decoded by the public. View of the exhibition © Centre Pompidou - Photo Georges Meguerditchian In the Kabuki Cho Tower (1987-1993), the partnership’s first construction in Japan, the stairs and lifts fixed to the exterior and the glazing designed to capture the daylight give the construction its identity. It is however with the headquarters of Lloyd’s, in London, that the notion of legibility is undoubtedly best expressed.

The Lloyd's of London Building In the year following the inauguration of the Centre Pompidou, the Richard Rogers Partnership, recently founded by the architect, was selected by Lloyd's of London to build its new headquarters. On the advice of Gordon Graham, then president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), it was a matter of “working on a strategy of development even before thinking about the architecture per se. “ This is where the specificity of this project, developed by the team in collaboration with the institution, lies. This international insurance market, established in the City since 1928, needed a workplace that was flexible, capable of responding to growth and symbolic of its dynamic reputation. Sketch © Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners The Partnership’s architects and engineers centred the construction around an atrium of 14 floors topped with a glass roof. Around the atrium are the floor plates accommodating the subscription rooms on several levels. Finally, on the periphery of this ensemble, six service towers made of steel modules are connected to the building by the “clip-on” concept.

This exteriorisation of functions enables the activity surfaces inside to be freed of all constraints and to facilitate, outside, the insertion of the building into the sinuous urban fabric of the mediaeval City. It also contributes to the symbolic impact of the construction: here, the mechanical aesthetic replaces the traditional monumental architectural codes. The functions are displayed and can be read on the façade, thereby contributing to the identity of the building. The Lloyd's of London Building, completed in 1986, has thus become the emblem of the modern city. TransparencY Also evoking the idea of the visibility of structures and activities, the notion de transparency may seem to blend with that of legibility. It is, however, a very specific reference, inscribing the work of Richard Rogers in the great modern architectural adventure of glass and light, which together form the building and play with the relations between interior and exterior.

According to Rogers, transparency in architecture “is comparable to the concept of transparency in the organisation of a society, and therefore to democracy and openness, to the rupture of ancient hierarchies traditionally hidden behind masonry walls.” In the 88 Wood Street office building in London (1991-1999), the interior lighting emphasises, at night, the articulation of the entirely glazed façades, which, during the day, allow the sky to be seen through the building. While many of Rogers’ designs draw on this notion of transparency, the Channel 4 building is the perfect illustration. Channel 4 Television Headquarters Building, London This building constructed for the British television company is situated on the major urban axis of Victoria Street, not far from the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. It is composed of two entirely glazed wings, which accommodate the offices and production studios, forming a right angle, with the main entrance in the middle. Channel 4 Television Headquarters Building, London, United Kingdom, 1990- 1994 Sketch © Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners The interesting feature of the building is the treatment of this angle.

It is effectively designed as a concavity, leaving a circular space in front of the entrance which is prolonged by an atrium, with a structural glass [1] façade suspended from beams. It thus causes the building to communicate with the city, and by transparency links the exterior space to the garden situated behind, in the heart of the plot. Around this central curve, on the gables of the two wings, are located conference rooms on one side and, on the other, the lift wells, topped by a television antenna which serves both as a sign and transmitter. Entirely glazed, these spaces symbolise the dynamic nature and activity of the company which are thus displayed to the street. [1] Structural glass enables the construction of façades entirely of glass, without a chassis. Urban (urbanism) The importance that Richard Rogers places on detail, on fragments of architecture, is combined with a way of thinking that is on the scale of the city. The answer to social and ecological questions lies, according to Rogers, in the development of “compact cities with multiple centres”, blending residential units with workplaces, accommodating rich and poor, young and old, and favouring the circulation of pedestrians, cyclists and public transport.

View of the exhibition © Centre Pompidou - Photo Georges Meguerditchian Present from the time of the conception of the Centre Pompidou, this interest in the urban dimension was embodied in the development, in 1986, of the London as it could be project. Created in the context of an exhibition, this plan, with its futuristic aesthetic features, places the Thames at the centre of the city’s development. In opposition to the prevailing ideas of the time, Rogers insisted on the enhancement of public spaces and placed architecture in a political and social vision of the city. Since 2000, Richard Rogers has given new impetus to this commitment through his collaboration with the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. The plan for the Lu Jia Zui district, in Shanghai (unbuilt), also belongs to this search for solutions for thinking the modern city. Lu Jia Zui, Shanghai The Lu Jia Zui district, in the Pu Dong sector isolated from the centre of Shanghai by a bend in the Huangpu river, was the subject of a renovation project in the early 1990s to accompany the demographic explosion and economic boom the city was then experiencing.

The Richard Rogers team was one of six teams invited to design a masterplan for the district. Sketch © Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners The solution they proposed is based on a circular configuration around a central park, with a general structure of varying heights that optimises access to daylight while creating open perspective angles to the river and the city. From the park just six main road axes radiate out, the major part of the network giving priority to the circulation of pedestrians and cyclists in the district, and public transport to access the city centre. To facilitate local movement, the constructed islets are a blend of residential, commercial and office buildings. The model proposed by the practice, and which in the end was not selected, is one of a district that is simultaneously dynamic, pleasant and ecologically responsible. Lightness Laying claim to the heritage of 19th Century railway stations and the geodesic domes of Buckminster Fuller, the Rogers practice is anchored in two centuries of history and upheld by the endeavour to “enclose space at the least expense”. The notion of lightness is a key concept of its work, based on close collaboration between architect and engineer, a notion which is often combined with those of transparency, legibility and architecture-system.

The creation of structures founded on the concept of economy of materials and means enables the architect to satisfy the needs of clients at the least expense and with elegance, as evidenced by the suspended structure of the Fleetguard Factory (1979-1981), the central portal frame supporting the roof of the INMOS Factory (1982-1987), or the floating roof suspended from two steel masts dominating the glass walls of the Michael Elias house (1991, unbuilt). The Millennium Dome, through the achievements it entails, is the emblematic work of this notion of lightness. Millennium Dome, London The Greenwich Peninsula in London, on which the Millennium Dome is implanted, was until the 1980s the site of one of Europe’s biggest gas refineries. In the 1990s, the site became the subject of a huge project of decontamination and redevelopment, entrusted to the Rogers Partnership in 1996. At the same time, the site was chosen for the celebrations to mark the passage into the new millennium.

Millenium Dome, London, United Kingdom, 1996-1999 Sketch © Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners At the time, the team proposed the construction of a dome, initially conceived as temporary then rendered permanent by a government decision at the end of 1997. Completed in 1998, the dome is a simple tent-like structure consisting of steel masts, a network of cables and a Teflon-coated envelope covering an area of 100,000 square metres with a central height of 50 m. The Millennium Dome is a fine example of technical prowess combined with economy of means, rapidity of execution and flexibility of usage. It belongs as much to the world of nomadic constructions as it does to the monument, to engineering as much as to architecture. Environmental (Ecology) Because they build the cities of tomorrow, architects are among the main protagonists concerned in the battle against global warming and in favour of sustainable development. Accordingly, the Rogers agency places ecology at the heart of its work, giving priority to renewable energies in the production and operation of its creations.

View of the exhibition © Centre Pompidou - Photo Georges Meguerditchian The National Assembly for Wales (1999-2005), with its natural ventilation, its biomass heating and its rainwater harvesting system, is a model of the genre. Situated in a disadvantaged neighbourhood of London, the Mossbourne Community Academy (2002-2004) (in total harmony with the policy of urban renovation maintained by Rogers in collaboration with the municipality) has also been designed, with its wooden skeleton and six ventilation towers, with a concern for environmental respect. Many other projects and creations exemplify the environmental commitment of Richard Rogers and his team. Designed in the early 1990s, the Bordeaux Law Courts can be considered their manifesto in this domain. Bordeaux Law Courts Built on an historic site in the city of Bordeaux, marked by the presence of vestiges of its ancient ramparts, the law courts building is a key structure in the evolution of the practice’s thinking. The building is in keeping with a philosophy that seeks the parallel between the necessary transparency of justice and that of architecture, resulting in a construction that is open and accessible.

A copper roof assembles the highly fragmented structure: opposite the glazed parallelepiped administrative section and joined to it by bridges is the alignment of the seven courtrooms. Clad in wood, the courtrooms are cone-shaped structures that are raised on concrete pilotis and extend up into the roof. The space beneath the courtrooms is accessible to the public. Bordeaux Law Courts, France, 1992-1998 Sketch © Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners The complex addresses environmental concerns. The zenithal opening of the courtrooms provides natural lighting while their curved shape facilitates ventilation since they function like extractor hoods. In addition, the wooden construction calls on local resources and know-how. In fact, the company that assembled the structures used the traditional techniques for making wine vats. The conception of the building in small volumes separated from each other and elevated allows better air circulation and savings in terms of heating and lighting costs. Finally, the copper roof captures heat, which is stored in the concrete base. SystEms The notion of architecture-system is fundamental to Rogers’ work, which as a result has sometimes been reduced to the expression of a “high-tech style”.

While there is no question that there exists an aesthetic of function in his work, which is found in the concept of legibility, it is never an idle gesture. The aim of these constructive systems, which employ new technologies and modern materials, is prefabrication and the application of mass production to architecture which enables flexibility, efficiency, low production costs and construction site savings. In 1992, a competition launched in South Korea for a programme of industrialised housing offered Rogers an opportunity to return to the research he carried out earlier in his career. In a reversed “clip-on” process, the service and circulation structures which, as in the Lloyd's building, are connected to the building, are here gathered into a central concrete nucleus onto which are affixed residential units of pressed steel (unbuilt). The recently completed Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport in Madrid is the icon project for this theme in the exhibition. Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, Madrid The construction of an airport terminal is an exercise in which the numerous constraints in terms of circulation and lighting must be taken into account.

To address these concerns at Terminal 4 of the Madrid Airport, the practice devised a system of “canyons”, stretching across the three levels of the superstructure from top to bottom, and aligned throughout the length of the terminal. Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport, Madrid, 1997-2005 Sketch © Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Covering the complex, the undulating roof, like “an invitation to a dream and to a voyage”, becomes the main façade of the site. Far from being the result of an aesthetic endeavour, this roof was designed to address the constraints of the terminal, to favour lighting and ventilation and to provide a surface for rainwater harvesting. The roof is constructed from the one module used repetitively. Designed with computer assistance, the module enables a combination of strength, economy and ease of assembly. WORKS IN PROGRESs Since the architect’s first constructions in the late 1960s and throughout many years of collaboration, the practice, recently renamed Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners has incessantly grown and extended the scope of its activities.

With a staff of close to 200 people, and the adoption of the original format of a foundation, the practice is currently conducting numerous projects all over the planet. View of the exhibition © Centre Pompidou - Photo Georges Meguerditchian Among these are the conversion of the Barcelona arenas into a leisure and culture complex, an operation for residential accommodation in Hyde Park (London) and the Jacob K Javits Convention Center in Manhattan (New York). In this group, the Tower at 122 Leadenhall Street stands out from the rest. Leadenhall Street Tower, London This 224.5 metre tower, presently under construction amidst the other towers of the City, faces the Lloyd's building, completed by the practice more than twenty years ago. In this environment, the tower signals its presence with its fine silhouette, which seen from the front has the shape of a long isosceles triangle pointing to the sky. Far from being a distinctive sign, this special shape is dictated by the need to preserve, in this extremely dense environment, perspective angles on the dome of the nearby Saint Paul’s Cathedral.

Leadenhall Street Tower, London, United Kingdom, 2002 (under construction) Sketch © Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners In a break with the traditional concrete central nucleus, the structure opts for a tubular armature around the perimeters of the floor plates. A tower in which service and circulation activities are grouped is affixed to the northern aspect of the main building. Finally, on ground level, special attention has been given to the building’s integration in the urban fabric: the first seven levels are recessed, which enables a tree-planted public space to penetrate into the heart of the plot. Conclusion Throughout the exhibition, guided by the vocabulary of the Richard Rogers practice, visitors are invited to explore the great wealth and impact of Rogers’ work. With new keys to reading architecture now at their disposal, visitors can continue their visit with the on-site (re)discovery of what is, in the end, the exhibition’s primary exhibit on a 1:1 scale: the Centre Pompidou itself, in which the concept of public space is put into practice, as we have seen, as well as the concepts of transparency, legibility, systems and lightness.

This retrospective is also an invitation to look more closely, in the company of a committed architect, at the challenges facing a profession that builds today the world of tomorrow.

List OF projects AND COMPLETED CONSTRUCTIONS prEsentED IN the exhibition, classIFIED BY theme (The Beginnings) Science Campus, Yale University / Connecticut, USA / 1961 (unbuilt) Reliance Controls electronics factory / Swindon, United Kingdom / 1967 (completed) House of Nino and Dada Rogers / London, United Kingdom / 1968-1969 (completed) Zip-Up Houses / 1968-1971 (prototype) Lloyd's of London Building / London, United Kingdom / 1978-1986 (completed) Kabuki Cho Tower / Tokyo, Japan / 1987-1993 (completed) Tomigaya Tower / Tokyo, Japan / 1990-1992 (unbuilt) Chiswick Park development / London, United Kingdom / 1999-(under construction) Transparency Channel 4 Television Headquarters Building / London, United Kingdom / 1990-94 (completed) 88 Wood Street office building / London, United Kingdom / 1994-99 (completed) Lloyd's Register of Shipping building / London, United

 Kingdom / 1995-2000 (completed) Public Centre Pompidou / Paris, France / 1971-1977 (completed) National Gallery extension / London, United Kingdom / 1982 (unbuilt) European Court of Human Rights / Strasbourg, France / 1989-95 (completed) Tokyo International Forum / Tokyo, Japan / 1990 (unbuilt) South Bank regeneration / London, United Kingdom / 1994-1997 (unbuilt) Rome Congress Centre / Rome, Italy / 1999 (unbuilt) Systems Industrialised housing system / South Korea / 1992 (unbuilt) Minami-Yamashiro school / Kyoto, Japan / 1995-2003 (completed) Terminal 4 Barajas Airport / Madrid, Spain / 1997-2005 (completed) Terminal 5 Heathrow Airport / London, United Kingdom / 1989-2008 (completed) Bodegas Protos winery / Peñafiel, Spain / 2003-2008 (under construction)

 Environmental ARAM Module / undefined site / 1971 (unbuilt) Nottingham Inland Revenue Headquarters / Nottingham, United Kingdom / 1992 (unbuilt) Bordeaux Law Courts / Bordeaux, France / 1992-1998 (completed) Daimler Chrysler office and residential buildings / Berlin, Germany / 1993-99 (completed) Antwerp Law Courts / Antwerp, Belgium / 1998-2005 (completed) National Assembly for Wales / Cardiff, Wales / 1999-2005 (completed) Mossbourne Community Academy / London, United Kingdom / 2002-2004 (completed) Potsdamerplatz and Leipzigerplatz masterplan / Berlin, Germany / 1991 (unbuilt) Coto de Macairena urban planning / Granada, Spain / 2004-(under construction) Valladolid Alta Velocidad urban planning / Valladolid, Spain / 2005-(under construction) Urban Coin Street development / London, United Kingdom / 1979-83 (unbuilt) “London as it could be” Exhibition /

 London, United Kingdom / 1986 (unbuilt) Lu Jia Zui masterplan / Shanghai (Pu Dong), China / 1992-1994 (unbuilt) Lightness Fleetguard production and distribution centre / Quimper, France / 1979-81 (completed) INMOS microprocessor factory / Newport, Wales / 1982-87 (completed) Michael Elias House / Los Angeles, California / 1991 (unbuilt) Saitama Complex / Omiya, Japan / 1995 (unbuilt) Millennium Dome / London, United Kingdom / 1996-99 (completed) (Future, works in progress) Transbay Tower and transport terminal / San Francisco, USA / 1998-2007 (unbuilt) Conversion of the Barcelona arenas / Barcelona, Spain / 2000-(under construction) Leadenhall Street Tower / London, United Kingdom / 2002-(under construction) Residential buildings 1 Hyde Park / London, United Kingdom / 2004-(under construction) Key Worker housing / London, United Kingdom / 2004-(

under construction) Jacob K Javits Convention Centre / New York, USA / 2005-(under construction) Design for Manufacture housing / Milton Keynes, United Kingdom / 2005-(under construction) Aerospace Campus / Toulouse, France / 2007-(under construction) Website - Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Richard Rogers + Architects, exhibition catalogue, supervised by Olivier Cinqualbre, Editions Centre Pompidou, 2007 Publications on the work of Richard Rogers and his practice ● POWELL, Kenneth, Architecture of the future: Richard Rogers, Basel, Birkhäuser, 2006.

● POWELL, Kenneth, Richard Rogers: complete works. Volume 2, London, Phaidon, 2000. ● POWELL, Kenneth, Richard Rogers: complete works. Volume 1, London, Phaidon, 1999. ● BURDETT, Richard, Richard Rogers : œuvres et projets, Paris, Gallimard-Electa, 1996. [Richard Rogers Partnership: works and projects, New York, Monacelli, 1996.] Writings by Richard Rogers ● Des Villes pour une petite planète [Cities for a Small Planet], Paris, Le Moniteur, 2000. ● Towards an Urban Renaissance, London, Taylor & Francis, 1999. ● Toward a Strong Urban Renaissance Works about contemporary architecture ● Atlas Phaïdon de l'architecture contemporaine mondiale [Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture], 2004. ● CHAMPY, Florent, Sociologie de l'architecture [The Sociology of Architecture], Paris, La Découverte, 2001. ● MONNIER, Gérard, L'architecture moderne en France.

3, De la croissance à la compétition [Modern architecture in France. 3, From growth to competition], Paris, Picard, 2000. ● RAGON, Michel, Histoire de l'architecture et de l'urbanisme modernes. 3, De Brasilia au post-modernisme [History of architecture and modern urbanism. 3, From Brasilia to post-modernism], Paris, Seuil, 1991. To consult the other dossiers on the collections of the National Museum of Modern Art In French In English Contacts So that we can provide a service that meets with your requirements, we would like to have your reactions and suggestions regarding this document. © Centre Pompidou, Direction de l’action éducative et des publics, November 2007 Text: Noémie Giard Translated by Vice Versa Traductions Copyreader: Olivier Rosenthal Layout: Michel Fernandez, Françoise Sy Savane Online dossier at section on “Educational Dossiers” Coordination: Marie-José Rodriguez Centre Pompidou - Rogers and Piano - Great Buildings Architecture Contributions appreciated .

Discussion Centre Pompidou Commentary "In the centre of historic Paris, within one kilometre of Notre Dame and the Louvre, and on the edge of the densely populated medieval quarter. At the time of the competition the area was in crisis. The neighboring Les Halles, which had housed Paris's principal food market for generations, was in the process of demolition, to be replaced by a large commercial development and major public transport interchange....A million square foot cultural centre to consist of four major specialist activities: museum of modern art, a reference library, centre for industrial design and a centre for music and acoustic research. Areas for office administration, book shops, restaurants, cinemas, children's activities and car parking were also to be included."  Barbie Campbell Cole and Ruth Elias Rogers, ed. Richard Rogers + Partners. p90-91. The Creator's Words "Technology cannot be an end in itself but must aim at solving long term social and ecological problems."  Richard Rogers. from Bill Lacy. 100 Contemporary Architects: Drawings and Sketches. p190.

"It is my belief that exciting things happen when a variety of overlapping activities designed for all peoplethe old and the young, the blue and white collar, the local inhabitant and the visitor, different activities for different occasionsmeet in a flexible environment, opening up the possibility of interaction outside the confines of institutional limits. When this takes place, deprived areas welcome dynamic places for those who live, work and visit; places where all can participate, rather than less or more beautiful ghettos."  Richard Rogers, 1969. from Barbie Campbell Cole and Ruth Elias Rogers, ed. Richard Rogers + Partners. p11. Details "Following the competition in 1971, the building was designed and built in six years, the main steel structure being erected in six months. The building was delivered on time and under budget in January 1977 at a cost of $100,000,000, with an average attendance of approximately seven million people a year."  Barbie Campbell Cole and Ruth Elias Rogers, ed. Richard Rogers + Partners. p104.

Address Place Georges Pompendeau, telephone: 01-44-78-12-33. Resources Renzo Piano FOR Members, STUDENTS & Professionals Renzo Piano The architect behind The Shard that oepned in London in 2012. Renzo Piano won the award in 1989 Categories Renzo Piano studied in Milan, graduating in 1964 before going to work for Louis Kahn in Philadelphia and Makowski in London. Arguably Piano's most famous project, London Bridge Tower, otherwise known as The Shard, was opened in 2012 as Europe's Tallest Skyscraper. He was born into a family of builders, and his principal work, such museums, galleries, churches, institutes, shopping centres, and airports, go through his building workshop in Genoa, where he was born. Born: 1937 Nationality: Italian Piano's first important commission was in 1969 to design the Italian Industry Pavilion at Expo '70 in Osaka, during which time he met Richard Rogers. They agreed to collaborate and enter the international competition for the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

The result was a hundred thousand square metres in the heart of Paris, devoted to the figurative arts, music, industrial design and literature. In 1995, Piano alone renovated the Centre which had suffered from its popularity – it was reopened on the eve of the new millennium. He had a continued interest in lightweight structures, was further explored this in his De Menil Collection in Houston, Texas which he compares to the Pompidou Centre: ‘Paradoxically, the Menil Collection with its great serenity, its calm and its understatement is far more modern than Centre Pompidou.’ In Noum, New Caledonia in the south Pacific he designed the Tjibaou Cultural Centre, which addresses the difficulties of finding a way to express traditions of the Pacific in modem language. The 10 hut-like structures of the centre, of up to nine storeys, are organised into three villages. One of Piano's most impressive projects is the Internation Terminal at the airport in Osaka, Japan, for which he had to create an artificial island. It is a structure with wave-like, asymmetrical lines and is capable of handling 100,000 passengers a day.

In January 1995, Kobe suffered an earthquake. Osaka is the same distance from the epicentre of the earthquake as Kobe, but not one pane of glass in the airport was broken. Awards: Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, 1990 Pritzker Architecture Prize, 1998 Italian Industry Pavilion at Expo '70, Osaka, 1969 Pompiduo Centre, Paris, 1977 De Menil Collection in Houston, Texas Tjibaou Cultural Centre, Noum, New Caledonia Kansai International Airport, Osaka, Japan, 1994 New Metropolis, Oosterdok, Amsterdam, 1997 Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, New Caledonia, 1998 IMAX Theatre, Berlin, 1998 Renzo Piano: 'The Shard is my dream building' | The Independent Architecture Renzo Piano: 'The Shard is my dream building' Renzo Piano's latest design towers over London's skyline – but will the controversial 1,000ft construction come to be known as the Italian architect's finest work?

Simon O'Hagan finds out. Friday 27 April 2012 23:00 BST Click to follow Renzo Piano: 'The Shard is my dream building' 1/8 Renzo Piano in the Shard Dan Burn-Forti The moon rises over The Shard at London Bridge PA Renzo Piano's Padre Pio Church in Italy 4/8 The cultural centre in New Caledonia 5/8 The colourful Central St Giles in London 6/8 Piano's Pompidou Centre in Paris Alamy 7/8 William Matthews, project architect of the Shard: 'We didn't want to build a great big American fridge' Dan Burn-Forti 8/8 The Shard, complete with shops, restaurants, offices, apartments, hotel and viewing area, towers above London's skyline Renzo Piano in the Shard Come and see this", Renzo Piano says, and the 74-year-old Italian architect beckons me out of his office, through the front door, and on to the pavement. We're in the Marais district of Paris, and it's buzzing with early-evening life – shoppers, café denizens, office workers heading for the Métro.

Piano – tall, slender and bearded, with a ducal air about him – walks a few yards and then stops and points towards something that's up a side street. "Look! Look!" he says, his eyes sparkling. Look where? A dry-cleaners? A florists? An approaching taxi? And then I lift my gaze and realise what Piano is trying to show me. A couple of hundred yards away, filling the narrow horizon at the end of the street, is a bank of metallic, cylindrically shaped blues, greens, yellows and reds – a surreal sight that's instantly recognisable as a small section of the exterior of the Pompidou Centre. A big smile spreads across Piano's face. "Ah," he says. "Now you see!" In the UK, for reasons one suspects are rooted partly in patriotism and partly in ignorance, the Pompidou Centre, which opened in 1977, tends to be thought of as exclusively the work of its British co-architect, Richard Rogers.

But it is as much Piano's work, and when he is in Paris – he also has offices in his native Genoa and in New York – he takes evident delight in being able to pop outside and remind himself of the revolutionary achievement that established him as one of the world's most skilled and imaginative practitioners of his craft. The Pompidou commission came when Piano was only in his mid-thirties, and although he has been responsible for a glittering array of buildings in the 35 years since – from grand-scale projects like Potsdamer Platz in Berlin and the International Airport in Osaka, to such small, specialised creations as the Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church in Italy and a cultural centre on the Pacific island of New Caledonia – it is Beaubourg, as all Paris knows it, for which he remains most famous. That is, possibly, until now. In a couple of months' time, a Renzo Piano building will open which, physically, will dwarf all his others, and may eventually be the one most people associate with him.

The Shard – previously known as London Bridge Tower – became, as of December 2011 when it passed Moscow's City of Capitals' height of 990ft, the tallest building in Europe. It tops out at precisely 1,000ft. A tapering glass structure that reaches up and up and up before melting into the heavens, its appearance and mood constantly changing with the light, the Shard would be utterly distinctive even if it stood amid the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf. But it doesn't. It stands in splendid – some would say stark – isolation on the site of London Bridge station on the south side of the Thames, where its impact is enormous. After the Post Office Tower in the 1960s, the NatWest Tower in the 1970s and the Gherkin in the 2000s, the Shard is central London's latest skyscraper to turn heads, draw gasps, and divide opinion. London may not yet have learnt to love the Shard, but there is no doubt that it is beginning to impinge on the city's consciousness and assume a role of London identifier to rank with the most potent.

It's perhaps no surprise that the Shard occupies such pride of place in the helicopter shots that make up the title sequence for the latest series of The Apprentice. As representative of London in 2012 as the Olympic Games, the Shard is the latest expression of a metropolitan dynamism that no global recession seems able to slow. The combination of scale and location was always going to make the Shard controversial, and its development has been perhaps the biggest architectural debating point in London since Prince Charles complained about the "carbuncle" that was a proposed new wing to the National Gallery in the 1980s. A public inquiry in the early 2000s drew a range of opponents, notably English Heritage, which viewed such a vast structure as a disfigurement to central London's historic skyline. In particular, the Shard was regarded as an offence to St Paul's Cathedral, whose cherished outline, from whichever direction you looked at it, was irredeemably diminished by what lay just the other side of the river. In the end the pro-Shard camp won the day. Ken Livingstone, then the Mayor, loved the idea of it so much that he said he wanted a second Shard.

It probably helped that Livingstone's architectural adviser was Richard Rogers, who remains a close friend of Piano's and one of his most ardent champions. For Southwark Council, the Shard meant regeneration of the area on a spectacular scale (the project includes the transformation of London Bridge station). The developer, Irvine Sellar, brought the necessary energy, vision and financial acumen to proceedings, qualities he'd demonstrate a few years later when securing fresh investment in the project from Qatar at a time when, amid the economic crisis of 2008/09, it had hit trouble. And the then deputy prime minister, John Prescott, the man who had ordered the public inquiry, was satisfied that the Shard would fulfil the requirement of being built to the highest architectural standards. So when Piano sits down in his Paris office and spreads out photographs of the Shard at various stages of its construction, he is entitled to feel proud, and not a little relieved, that more than a decade after he discussed the project with Sellar, it has finally come to fruition. That said, Piano feels he must defend the Shard, and he is especially sensitive to the argument that centres on St Paul's Cathedral.

I have always loved St Paul's," he says "St Paul's is an icon of mine because it is a great building. It's fantastic. But when St Paul's was built, it was modern, just like the Shard is modern now. It wasn't a classic at the time. It became a classic." The Shard, Piano says, was about the "intensification" of the city. Yes, its height is extreme, but its footprint is relatively small and the way it combines a variety of uses, and, crucially, is open to the public, is what makes it special, and not to be compared with the financial institutions that typically occupy such premises. When the project architect, William Matthews, took me on a tour of the Shard a few weeks ago, he pointed east to the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf and said: "We absolutely didn't want to build one of those – a great big American fridge." Instead Piano and his team have built a vertical town – with offices, shops, a hotel, restaurants, some private apartments, and, up on the 72nd floor, a viewing gallery. That members of the public can access the top of the building is something that matters a lot to Piano and his team.

They want Londoners to feel that the Shard belongs to them and that they belong to it. As a building that will draw visitors hungry to experience the most stupendous views of the capital and beyond, the Shard, says Matthews, is closer in spirit to the Eiffel Tower or the Empire State Building than it is to any commercial property. "It's a very old dream of mine, this idea of making a building like a little town," Piano says. "So when people say, oh but it's going to use up so much energy, it's not true. An actual town of 8,000 people [the Shard's projected number of occupants] would use up five times as much energy. This is why the Shard is the shape it is. The higher up you go, so the functions change, and you need less floor space, until you get to the very top, and there I just wanted the building to kind of mingle in the air. It's important that it breathes up there – that it breathes in the clouds." Another key idea informed the Shard's shape: the idea of the steeple, a design feature of which London enjoys a rich legacy through its churches.

Among the things Piano wants me to look at is an engraving of 18th-century London which is dotted with church spires. The message is implicit: London is full of spires – the Shard is just another one. It fits in. Piano gestures like a conductor during a quieter passage of music. There is a lightness of touch about everything he does, and it's why the Shard may be one of the least macho tall buildings in the world. Renzo Piano was born into a family of builders. A career in architecture was almost inevitable. "I've always loved to make things. I still do." Piano is known for the precision and beauty of his model-making, and the importance he attaches to laying out his projects in miniature. His Paris model-making workshop adjoins his office, and passers-by can look in through the window and marvel. After studying in Italy, Piano came to London and met Richard Rogers. They had Italy in common (Rogers was born in Florence) and soon bonded. Their bid to build the Pompidou Centre was one of no fewer than 700 that were submitted. They were young and unknown, and to their amazement, they were chosen.

"I think ours was one of the few bids that had this idea to create a piazza in front of the building," Rogers, who is now 78, told me. "We thought about the social implications of the project. We were quick on the uptake, but really we had more confidence than knowledge. "Renzo is a humanist, a great humanist," Rogers continued. "He combines the social, political and the technological so brilliantly. He creates tremendous buildings." And does Piano mind that the reaction to the Shard has not all been favourable? "For the seven years it took to build Beaubourg, we were attacked left, right and centre," Rogers said. "I think that has hardened him to criticism." Given the time that Piano spent in London when he was younger, it is perhaps a surprise that it took him another three decades before he produced a building here. The Shard was his first London commission, but in the years it has taken to build it, Piano has completed another London project – the office development that is Central St Giles on the fringes of the West End, whose bright colours echo the Pompidou Centre and hint at the playfulness in Piano's character.

There are clues to Piano's philosophy in the way he lives his life and runs his business. For such a globally renowned practice, Renzo Piano Building Workshop is unusually small in terms of numbers of employees. "My personal rule is a maximum of 100 people," Piano said. "Sometimes we have had to go over that. But if you are bigger, you lose control. I like to know the name of everyone who works in the office." (Two of his three grown-up children from his first marriage work in the business. From his second marriage Piano has a young son.) Apart from architecture, Piano's great passion is sailing, and his buildings wouldn't be the same if that wasn't the case. "If you ask me what is a kind of constant with me it is this idea of making a building fly – creating something with zero gravity. Maybe this is why I love sailing so much. Sailing is not just about the wind, it is about the boat, and its buoyancy and its lightness, and maybe, yes, the Shard is like that." The word Piano said he hated was "style". "I think it is a trap. But what I don't hate is 'intelligence' or 'coherence'.

Because coherence is not about shape, it is about something stronger, more humanistic, more poetic even. I don't know, this all becomes a bit romantic, maybe I should shut up!" In his heavily accented English, Piano talks a lot about the intangible qualities buildings can possess – their energy, their magnetism, the way they can transform people's lives without them necessarily noticing. "There are about 300,000 people a day using London Bridge station," he said. "If what we've created gives them a better experience, then that's great." But Piano knows that, whatever he says, the Shard's success or otherwise lies in the future. "You know, the best architecture takes time to be understood. I don't know how the Shard will be thought of. In some ways it's a bit narcissistic to even think about it like that. But I would prefer people to judge it not now. Judge it in 10 years' time." More about: BBC - Culture - Pompidou Centre: A radical with enduring appeal Design Pompidou Centre: A radical with enduring appeal The Pompidou Centre was panned by the critics when it opened in 1977.

But its colourful exuberance has ensured its lasting popular appeal, writes Jonathan Glancey. By Jonathan Glancey 21 October 2014 “The funny thing looking back is that, to begin with, I hadn’t been at all keen on the project”, says Richard Rogers of the Parisian building that made him world famous. The Pompidou Centre – a still shocking, if much admired hi-tech cultural centre in the heart of Paris – was, at the time an international competition was held for its design in 1969, a symbol of everything the 36-year-old left-wing architect stood against. What was known then as the Centre Beaubourg was to be a state monument, a centralised museum proposed by a new, right-wing French president, Georges Pompidou, the very man who, as prime minister under President de Gaulle, had put a end to the student demonstrations and riots of the previous year. Many in France believed these to be the opening shots in a new French Revolution that would bring down General de Gaulle, his government and the state itself, together with proposals for costly national monuments.

After much intellectual arm-wrestling, Rogers was persuaded by colleagues and associates – principally Ted Happold, a structural engineer, and Renzo Piano, a lively Genoese architect raised in a family of builders – to have a shot at the Parisian competition. Even then, the team of young long-haired, tie-dyed architects and engineers nearly missed the last post with their package of drawings, one of 681 entries in the competition. A month later, Rogers’ phone rang. It was Piano. “Vecchio” he said, (Piano has always called Rogers, who is four years older, “old man”), “are you sitting down? We’ve won the Pompidou . . .” It was hard to believe. The Piano and Rogers’ design looked like no other museum or cultural centre. With exposed and brightly coloured ductwork and escalators climbing, zigzag style in transparent tubes across its challenging façade, the building was planned as “a cross between the British Museum and Times Square.” It was as hip a design for a public building as could be imagined, a cultural centre for the iconoclastic new worlds of Pierre Boulez in music, Andy Warhol in art and Jean-Luc Godard on screen.

Are friends electric? The first sight of the design team did little to sway establishment fears in France that they had been landed with the architectural equivalent of Electric Ladyland by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. “Renzo says we were the ‘bad boys’ of architecture”, says Rogers. “When President Pompidou looked at the drawings, all he said was “Ça va faire crier” [This is going to make a noise]; but, we moved to Paris for five years, it got built on time and within budget, and it was a big success.” President Pompidou had been remarkably gracious to these young radicals. As for popularity, the cultural centre that now bears his name entertained six million visitors in its first year – making it more popular than the Eiffel Tower. Because it was so avant-garde a design, it was a challenge to build, especially so when the budget was cut in half. Rogers and Piano relied heavily on the ingenuity of Peter Rice, a brilliant young Irish structural engineer, who had only recently solved the problem of how to build the wild, sail-like roofs of the Sydney Opera House.

Beam me up “Peter transformed the competition entry for Pompidou from a design that was in some ways too mechanistic into one that was humanistic”, says Rogers. “He softened the whole look of the building through the way he reconfigured the structure. There’s a lot of handcraft in the building, too, which might surprise a lot of people, and that’s one of Peter’s great contributions. The cast steel ‘gerberettes’ – or special beams – that allowed us to have a deep, free floor space by carrying the weight of the floors to the outside of the building brought light and grace to the final structure; they were fettled by hand.” Rice was thrilled when he came across an old Parisian lady stroking the cast steel beams of the building – telling him how lovely the texture was. “Before working with Peter, we existed in a world of I-beams and the kind of conventional steelwork that would have made the walls of Pompidou look heavy; we were looking for transparency, the idea of a cultural centre that was truly open to everyone with nothing to hide from the public” he said The Pompidou Centre opened in 1977. By and large, critics panned it.

It was an “oil refinery” of a building, shocking, provocative and insensitive to the city streets around it. And, yet, it has become one of the key buildings of the second half of the 20thCentury, and hugely popular for its location, events and the enduring appeal of its extrovert and adaptable design, a colourful climbing-frame of a building extending an open invitation to all ages and generations. If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter .

Question: Which British architect was responsible with Renzo Piano for the Famous Pompidou Centre in Paris?
Answer: Richard Rogers